Saturday, 05 October

1.   The burden against Tyre. Wail, you ships of Tarshish! For it is laid waste, So that there is no house, no harbor; From the land of Cyprus it is revealed to them. 2.   Be still, you inhabitants of the coastland, You merchants of Sidon, Whom those who cross the sea have filled. 3.   And on great waters the grain of Shihor, The harvest of the River, is her revenue; And she is a marketplace for the nations. 4.   Be ashamed, O Sidon; For the sea has spoken, The strength of the sea, saying, "I do not labor, nor bring forth children; Neither do I rear young men, Nor bring up virgins." 5.   When the report reaches Egypt, They also will be in agony at the report of Tyre. 6.   Cross over to Tarshish; Wail, you inhabitants of the coastland! 7.   Is this your joyous city , Whose antiquity is from ancient days, Whose feet carried her far off to dwell? 8.   Who has taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city , Whose merchants are princes, Whose traders are the honorable of the earth? 9.   The LORD of hosts has purposed it, To bring to dishonor the pride of all glory, To bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth. 10.   Overflow through your land like the River, O daughter of Tarshish; There is no more strength. 11.   He stretched out His hand over the sea, He shook the kingdoms; The LORD has given a commandment against Canaan To destroy its strongholds. 12.   And He said, "You will rejoice no more, O you oppressed virgin daughter of Sidon. Arise, cross over to Cyprus; There also you will have no rest." 13.   Behold, the land of the Chaldeans, This people which was not; Assyria founded it for wild beasts of the desert. They set up its towers, They raised up its palaces, And brought it to ruin. 14.   Wail, you ships of Tarshish! For your strength is laid waste. 15.   Now it shall come to pass in that day that Tyre will be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king. At the end of seventy years it will happen to Tyre as in the song of the harlot: 16.   "Take a harp, go about the city, You forgotten harlot; Make sweet melody, sing many songs, That you may be remembered." 17.   And it shall be, at the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre. She will return to her hire, and commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world on the face of the earth. 18.   Her gain and her pay will be set apart for the LORD; it will not be treasured nor laid up, for her gain will be for those who dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for fine clothing.

1.   Behold, the LORD makes the earth empty and makes it waste, Distorts its surface And scatters abroad its inhabitants. 2.   And it shall be: As with the people, so with the priest; As with the servant, so with his master; As with the maid, so with her mistress; As with the buyer, so with the seller; As with the lender, so with the borrower; As with the creditor, so with the debtor. 3.   The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered, For the LORD has spoken this word. 4.   The earth mourns and fades away, The world languishes and fades away; The haughty people of the earth languish. 5.   The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, Because they have transgressed the laws, Changed the ordinance, Broken the everlasting covenant. 6.   Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, And those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, And few men are left. 7.   The new wine fails, the vine languishes, All the merry–hearted sigh. 8.   The mirth of the tambourine ceases, The noise of the jubilant ends, The joy of the harp ceases. 9.   They shall not drink wine with a song; Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it. 10.   The city of confusion is broken down; Every house is shut up, so that none may go in. 11.   There is a cry for wine in the streets, All joy is darkened, The mirth of the land is gone. 12.   In the city desolation is left, And the gate is stricken with destruction. 13.   When it shall be thus in the midst of the land among the people, It shall be like the shaking of an olive tree, Like the gleaning of grapes when the vintage is done. 14.   They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing; For the majesty of the LORD They shall cry aloud from the sea. 15.   Therefore glorify the LORD in the dawning light, The name of the LORD God of Israel in the coastlands of the sea. 16.   From the ends of the earth we have heard songs: "Glory to the righteous!" But I said, "I am ruined, ruined! Woe to me! The treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously, Indeed, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously." 17.   Fear and the pit and the snare Are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth. 18.   And it shall be That he who flees from the noise of the fear Shall fall into the pit, And he who comes up from the midst of the pit Shall be caught in the snare; For the windows from on high are open, And the foundations of the earth are shaken. 19.   The earth is violently broken, The earth is split open, The earth is shaken exceedingly. 20.   The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, And shall totter like a hut; Its transgression shall be heavy upon it, And it will fall, and not rise again. 21.   It shall come to pass in that day That the LORD will punish on high the host of exalted ones, And on the earth the kings of the earth. 22.   They will be gathered together, As prisoners are gathered in the pit, And will be shut up in the prison; After many days they will be punished. 23.   Then the moon will be disgraced And the sun ashamed; For the LORD of hosts will reign On Mount Zion and in Jerusalem And before His elders, gloriously.

1.   O LORD, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, For You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. 2.   For You have made a city a ruin, A fortified city a ruin, A palace of foreigners to be a city no more; It will never be rebuilt. 3.   Therefore the strong people will glorify You; The city of the terrible nations will fear You. 4.   For You have been a strength to the poor, A strength to the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, A shade from the heat; For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. 5.   You will reduce the noise of aliens, As heat in a dry place; As heat in the shadow of a cloud, The song of the terrible ones will be diminished. 6.   And in this mountain The LORD of hosts will make for all people A feast of choice pieces, A feast of wines on the lees, Of fat things full of marrow, Of well–refined wines on the lees. 7.   And He will destroy on this mountain The surface of the covering cast over all people, And the veil that is spread over all nations. 8.   He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken. 9.   And it will be said in that day: "Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the LORD; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." 10.   For on this mountain the hand of the LORD will rest, And Moab shall be trampled down under Him, As straw is trampled down for the refuse heap. 11.   And He will spread out His hands in their midst As a swimmer reaches out to swim, And He will bring down their pride Together with the trickery of their hands. 12.   The fortress of the high fort of your walls He will bring down, lay low, And bring to the ground, down to the dust.

1.   For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2.   to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated "king of righteousness," and then also king of Salem, meaning "king of peace," 3.   without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually. 4.   Now consider how great this man was , to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. 5.   And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; 6.   but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7.   Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better. 8.   Here mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them , of whom it is witnessed that he lives. 9.   Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, 10.   for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. 11.   Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? 12.   For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. 13.   For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar. 14.   For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. 15.   And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest 16.   who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. 17.   For He testifies: "You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek." 18.   For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, 19.   for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. 20.   And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath 21.   (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: "The LORD has sworn And will not relent, ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek’ "), 22.   by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant. 23.   Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. 24.   But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 25.   Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. 26.   For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; 27.   who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. 28.   For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.